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Saturday's Kanakuri Memorial Meet in Kumamoto was the weekend's main event in Japanese track, but there were good results at the Nittai University Time Trials meet in Yokohama too. Emmanuel Maru (Toyota Boshoku) led the men's 5000 m A-heat at Kanakuri in 13:14.06, with Tomonori Yamaguchi (SGH) clocking the fastest Japanese time in 13:16.38 in his first race as a corporate leaguer. Waseda University duo Rui Suzuki and Yota Mashiko went 6-7 in 13:20.64 and 13:22.87, the 18-year-old Mashiko shaving 0.04 off the U20 NR. In 8th, Yamato Yoshii (Toyota) ran a PB of 13:23.92. 3000 mSC NR holder Ryuji Miura (Subaru) continued to struggle after a weak indoor season, finishing 18th of 20 finishers in 13:45.10. 19-year-old Festus Kimorwo (Kurosaki Harima) was under 13:20 in the B-heat too, winning in a 13:19.59 PB. 2 more collegiate men broke 13:30, Daichi Fujita (Chuo Univ.) 8th in 13:28.93 and Riki Koike (Soka Univ.) 9th in 13:29.09. The top 6 in the men's 800 m A-hea...

Japan's outdoor Grand Prix season kicks off Saturday in Kumamoto at the Kanakuri Memorial Meet . Streaming will be at the link above starting at 9:30 a.m. local time. Complete timetable and start lists . Main events and some noteworthy entries: GP Women's 800 m Heat 2  - 12:10 p.m. All-time JPN #4 Ayano Shiomi , 2:01.01 GP Men's 800 m Heat 2  - 12:30 p.m. GP Women's 3000 mSC  - 2:45 p.m. All-time JPN #4 Yuzu Nishide , 9:38.95 All-time JPN #5 Manami Nishiyama , 9:39.28 South Korean NR holder Ha-Rim Cho , 9:53.09 GP Men's 3000 mSC  - 3:05 p.m. All-time JPN #2 Ryoma Aoki , 8:18.75 All-time JPN #5 Yutaro Niinae , 8:19.54 All-time JPN #7 Hibiki Obara , 8:22.64 All-time U20 JPN #2 Tetsu Sasaki , 8:29.05 All-time U20 JPN #3 Soma Nagahara , 8:30.37 GP Women's 1500 m Heat 2  - 3:35 p.m. Teresiah Muthoni , 4:02.54 Margaret Ekalale , 4:09.64 all-time JPN #3 Ran Urabe , 4:07.90 All-time JPN #6 Tomoka Kimura , 4:09.79 All-time U20 #5 Mei Sakiyama , 4:13.67 GP Men's 1500...

Former Komazawa University captain Mebuki Suzuki (Toyota) and 3-time 10000 m national champion Ririka Hironaka (Japan Post) ran through rain that started just before the day's last two events to win the 10000 m national titles Saturday in Kumamoto at the Kanakuri Memorial meet. With Kenyan pacers and Wavelight in action both races were steady time trials that ground the fields down to a few legit contenders. In the men's race that was Suzuki, 2024 national champ Jun Kasai (Asahi Kasei) and Suzuki's teammate Yamato Yoshii . Yoshii made an early move to break away, but Suzuki and Kasai reeled him back in by 7200. At 9000 m the pace had slowed to 24:56, on track for 27:42, but Suzuki attacked with a 61-second lap from 9000 to 9400, a pace he held to drop a 2:32 last 1000 m for the win in 27:28.82. Kasai was next in 27:33.52 and Yoshii 3rd in a 27:36.33 PB with the top 8 all breaking 28 minutes. The women's race was down to just 2021, 2022 and 2023 national champion Hir...

Saturday is the first big meet on Japan's outdoor middle and long distance circuit, the Kanakuri Memorial Meet in Kumamoto. This year it's also hosting the 10000 m National Championships , making for an extra-long and extra-quality field overall. Top finishers will pick up places on Japan's team for next month's Asian Championships in South Korea, a key step in earning world rankings points to get onto the home team for September's Tokyo World Championships that makes Kanakuri more valuable than ever. Streaming is scheduled to be here and will run through most of the day, with the meet-closing men's and women's 10000 m having a separate broadcast on NHK BS starting at 19:30 local time. Start lists for most events are here . 10000 m start lists are here . Live results are here . A-heat event previews: Women's 800 m  - 11:00 High schooler Rin Kubo  is the only Japanese woman to have broken 2 minutes, with a 1:59.93 last July. Is she going to get any fast...

The first big meet of Japan's outdoor season happens in Kumamoto Apr. 12 with the Kanakuri Memorial Meet , where the men's and women's 10000 m double as the National Championships and other events count as key selection races for May's Asian Championships in South Korea. Top entries per event below with best times within the qualifying window. Complete 10000 m entries here, other distances here . Men's 10000 m National Championships Emmanuel Maru (Kenya/Toyota Boshoku) - 27:09.96 Jun Kasai (Asahi Kasei) - 27:17.46 Charles Kamau (Kenya/SGH) - 27:18.89  Mebuki Suzuki (Toyota) - 27:20.33 Tomoki Ota (Toyota) - 27:20.94 Kazuya Shiojiri (Fujitsu) - 27:36.37 Tomoya Ogikubo (Hiramatsu Byoin) - 27:38.28 Yuto Imae (GMO) - 27:42.65 Yamato Yoshii (Toyota) - 27:42.88 Ryo Saito (Asahi Kasei) - 27:45.08 Shoya Saito (Josai Univ.) - 27:45.12 Yuya Yoshida (GMO) - 27:45.85 Hayate Honma (Chuo Univ.) - 27:46.60 Tsuyoshi Bando (Osaka Gas) - 27:48.53 Kazuki Tamura (Sumitomo Denko) - 27:...

Two big meets happened Saturday, one in Kumamoto and the other in Yokohama. At Kumamoto's Kanaguri Memorial Meet , Benard Koech (Kyudenko) turned in the performance of the day with a 13:13.52 meet record to win the men's 5000 m A-heat by just 0.11 seconds over Emmanuel Kipchirchir (SGH). The top four were all under 13:20, with 10000 m national record holder Kazuya Shiojiri (Fujitsu) bouncing back from a DNF at last month's The TEN to take the top Japanese spot at 7th overall in 13:24.57. The B-heat was also decently quick, Shadrack Rono (Subaru) winning in 13:21.55 and Shoya Yonei (JR Higashi Nihon) running a 10-second PB to get under 13:30 for the first time in 13:29.29 for 6th. Paris Olympics marathoner Akira Akasaki (Kyudenko) was 9th in 13:30.62. South Sudan's Abraham Guem (Ami AC) also set a meet record in the men's 1500 m A-heat in 3:38.94. 3000 mSC national record holder Ryuji Miura made his debut with the Subaru corporate team, running 3:39.78 for 2n...

Kumamoto's Kanakuri Memorial Meet kicked off Japan's outdoor track season Saturday. In cold and windy conditions Hakone Ekiden great Vincent Yegon made his debut for two-time New Year Ekiden champ Honda with a win in a four-way battle over the last lap, dropping Samson Ndirangu (Sunbelx) in the last 50 m for 1st 27:37.85 to 27:39.67. Tomoki Ota (Toyota) was 3rd in 27:42.49, with collegiate half marathon champ Kotaro Shinohara of Hakone Ekiden winner Komazawa University 4th in 27:43.13, the 4th-best ever by a Japanese-born collegiate man. The women's 10000 m had only five athletes on the starting line, and it was 2022 National Corporate Half Marathon champion Dolphine Omare (U.S.E.) all the way. Omare clocked 31:44.67, over 30 seconds up on top Japanese woman Misaki Hayashida (Kyudenko). Hayashida was 2nd in 32:15.97, with all four Japanese women clearing 32:45. The men's 5000 m was split into six heats, with Heat 6 winner Emmanuel Korir (Mitsubishi Juko) turni...

Outdoor track season gets moving this weekend with at least three competitive meets across the country. The Hokuriku Region Corporate Championships in Niigata and Chugoku Corporate Time Trials in Hiroshima are solidly in the second tier, but the main event happens Saturday in Kumamoto at the Kanaguri Memorial Meet . Streaming of Kanaguri starts at 15:30 local time above, with the main races happening later in the evening. Meet schedule and start lists here . Both the men's and women's 1500 m feature three of Japan's all-time top five. The men's race is slightly stronger, with NR holder Kazuki Kawamura (Toenec), all-time #3 Nanami Arai (Honda) and #4 Ryuji Miura (Juntendo Univ.). The women's race has NR holder Nozomi Tanaka (New Balance), #3 Ran Urabe (Sekisui Kagaku) and #5 Yume Goto (Uniqlo). Two others in the Japanese men's 1500 m all-time top ten, #6 Keita Sato (Komazawa Univ.) and #10 Yuta Bando (Fujitsu), are opting for the 5000 m. Just back from...

Japan's outdoor track season got moving with Saturday's Kanakuri Memorial Meet in Kumamoto. Mostly geared toward setting up chances for people to hit qualifying marks for this season's National Championships, the day's biggest race was the men's 1500 m . NR holder Kazuki Kawamura (Toenec) was a late scratch, but on the starting line were all-time JPN #2 Nanami Arai (Honda), U20, U18 and HS NR holder Keita Sato in his debut wearing the Komazawa University uniform, 3000 mSC NR holder Ryuji Miura (Juntendo Univ.), indoor 5000 m NR holder Hyuga Endo (Sumitomo Denko) and more of Japan's best. Sato spent most of the race up front, going through the first three laps in 56-1:55-2:55, while Endo hung back until the bell. Going right past the lead group, Endo had a lead of almost 2 seconds over Arai with 200 m to go. But in the home straight Miura launched an incredible kick that just got Endo at the line. Miura clocked 3:36.59, good for all-time JPN #2 at 1.17 sec...

With yesterday's shift to the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics becoming just an apparent matter of time, today the first major meet on the Japanese calendar, the Apr. 11 Kanakuri Memorial Meet in Kumamoto, announced its cancelation after having previously eliminated all but the key elite-level races for athletes gearing up to go for Olympic qualifying marks. The announcement: Regarding the Cancelation of the 2020 Kanakuri Memorial Middle and Long Distance Athletics Meet, the Kumamoto Meet in the Sato Shokuhin Japan Grand Prix Series Due to concerns about the safety and security of all those involved with the Kanakuri Memorial Meet in relation to the spread of the novel coronavirus and the fact that it is not possible to evaluate the virus' current state of spread, the meet has unfortunately been canceled. Entry fees and sponsorship funds already paid will be refunded at a later date. We thank you for your continued support. source article: http://kumariku.com/inf...

April 1 is the start of the new academic and fiscal year, the time when runners move up from high school to university teams and on from university to the corporate leagues. The Kanaguri Memorial Meet is always one of the first chances to see people debut in new uniforms, and even though it was a week later than usual this year there were still lots of interesting items to be had. #1 among them was the debut of Australian Melissa Duncan in the Shiseido team's pink uniform. Duncan had no trouble putting away the field of Japanese and Kenyan corporate leaguers, soloing a 15:20.88 to win the women's 5000 m A-heat by over 20 seconds. 2018 National Sports Festival women's 1500 m champion Ran Urabe (Nike Tokyo TC) had a much narrower margin of victory in the 1500 m A-heat but still pulled out a win over 2018 World U20 Championships 3000 m gold medalist Nozomi Tanaka 4:21.96 to 4:22.25, Tanaka debuting in the new Toyota Jidoshokki TC uniform after moving to that club spo...

2018 Fukuoka International Marathon winner Yuma Hattori (25, Toyota) landed at Narita Airport on Mar. 26 on a flight back from New Zealand. Hattori had spent the last 10 days training on a tough and hilly course in New Zealand. The course of the new MGC Race 2020 Olympic marathon trials scheduled for Sept. 15 features a series of short uphills starting at 37 km. It is expected to be the point where the race-making move will happen. Rather than focusing on high pace training Hattori put more emphasis on covering long distances in this training camp. "I've been training thoroughly for uphills in anticipation of the MGC Race," said Hattori. "I think it was good base training." Hattori plans to start the season at the Apr. 14 Kanaguri Memorial Meet's 5000 m, then to run the Apr. 28 Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon. "Spring is where you lay the foundation, a season of patience," he said. "I want to run about 1:02:30 in Gifu." Looking toward th...

Saturday was the first full day of the Japanese outdoor track season with two large time trial meets and university intramurals across the country. The top marks of the day came over 3000 m at Tokyo's Setagaya Time Trials meet. In the women's A-heat Japan-based Kenyan Grace Mbuthye (Starts) won in 8:58.55, while another Japan-based Kenyan Evans Yego (Sunbelx) took the men's A-heat in 7:58.50. Both times were the 2nd-fastest outdoor marks in the world so far this season. Other notable marks: Kei Fumimoto (Kanebo) turned in the fastest Japanese time of the day at 8:06.95 for 4th in the A-heat. Junior high school 1500 m, 3000 m and 5000 m national record holder Kosuke Ishida made his high school debut in the C-heat running for Tokyo Nogyo Daini H.S. , finishing 3rd in 8:22.85, about 5 seconds off his best. After taking 7th at last month's NYC Half, 2017 World University Games half marathon gold medalist Kei Katanishi (Komazawa Univ.) got back into action, warm...

It's a busy weekend on and off the roads at home and abroad. Led by 2018 Hakone Ekiden First Stage winner Kazuya Nishiyama (Toyo Univ.) and 2017 World University Games women's half marathon gold medalist Yuki Munehisa (Tokyo Nogyo Univ.), Japan is fielding quality men's and women's teams for Saturday's World University Cross Country Championships in St. Gallen, Switzerland. At home, the first big track meet of the season takes place Saturday in Kumamoto at the Kanaguri Memorial Meet where the main focus will be on 5000 m. Livestream to be had here . 3000 m will be the main order of the day at the year's first Setagaya Time Trials meet in Tokyo, while top members of Waseda University and other Hakone teams will square off at the Tokyo Six-University Meet at Keio University . Sunday the emphasis shifts to the roads, with yet more Hakone talent racing the Yaizu Minato Half Marathon thanks to its unique "pair marathon" team scoring. Overseas...

by Brett Larner With the start of the fiscal and academic year on April 1 Japan's outdoor track season wasted no time getting started at Saturday's Kanaguri Memorial Meet in Kumamoto.  With five heats of senior men's 5000 m on the menu 1500 m junior world record holder Ronald Kwemoi (Team Komori Corp.) led the way, winning the A-heat in 13:24.42.  Newcomer Abayneh Degu (Team Yasukawa Denki) wasn't far off that in the B-heat, running a 30-second PB of 13:25.55 for the win. Hiroki Matsueda (Team Fujitsu) led the Japanese results, clearing 13:30 for the first time with a 13:28.61 for 3rd in the Kwemoi-led A-heat.  Just 34 days after his 1:01:55-first-half 2:09:27 marathon debut, Yuta Shitara (Team Honda) was only 0.12 seconds off his PB in 13:34.80 for 8th in the same heat. In the B-heat, Matsueda's teammate Ken Yokote (Team Fujitsu) ran a 10-second PB of 13:31.35 for top Japanese honors at 5th overall.  Behind him, Kazuya Shiojiri (Juntendo Univ.), a Rio O...

by Brett Larner video by toyosina2008 Outdoor track season got moving early with two big meets on April 2nd. At the Setagaya Time Trials meet in Tokyo's Kinuta Park, 17-year-old Hyuga Endo (Gakuho Ishikawa H.S.) kicked hard over the last lap to outrun three members of 2016 Hakone Ekiden champion Aoyama Gakuin University , all of whom ran PBs, and all other competition and go under 13:50 for 5000 m for the first time.  A day after the start of his senior year of high school Endo won the fastest 5000 m heat in 13:48.13, moving up from #9 to #7 on the all-time Japanese high school lists .  AGU's Kazuki Tamura and Yuki Nakamura took 2nd and 3rd in PBs of 13:50.43 and 13:52.29, with Hakone Sixth Stage winner Yuji Onoda joining them under 14 for the first time in 13:56.87.  One other high schooler, Ryunosuke Omori (Sano Nittai Prep H.S.) scored his first sub-14, running 13:54.25 for 5th just behind Kenyan Silas Kingori (Team SGH Group).  Kenyan Rosemary Monica W...

by Brett Larner videos by Ekiden News Kenyan Hiram Ngatia (Team Toyota) came up with a major PB at Saturday's Kanaguri Memorial Meet, beating Moscow World Championships 10000 m bronze medalist Paul Tanui (Kenya/Team Kyudenko) to win the 5000 m A-heat in a world-leading 13:13.66.  Running on his birthday, Yamanashi Gakuin University star Enock Omwamba (Kenya) likewise PBd in 13:28.41, with Keita Shitara (Team Konica Minolta) edging his twin brother Yuta Shitara (Team Honda) for top Japanese honors at 6th in 13:41.04. The Shitara twins' former Toyo University teammate Takanori Ichikawa (Team Hitachi Butsuryu) came up with a PB almost identical to theirs to win the B-heat in 13:41.84 just ahead of top collegiate Hironori Tsuetaki (Chuo Gakuin Univ.).  After running last month's United Airline NYC Half with support from JRN, Takashi Ichida (Team Asahi Kasei) and his former Kagoshima Jitsugyo H.S. teammate Koki Takada (Waseda Univ.) both PBd in the B-heat, Ichi...